


Walk

by Lohrendrell



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Can read as romance or friendship, M/M, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-15
Updated: 2016-09-15
Packaged: 2018-08-15 03:56:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8041561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lohrendrell/pseuds/Lohrendrell
Summary: The war is over, but that doesn't mean Sasuke and Naruto are done. Now comes the start of a new era. And so they walk.
(I just wanted a post-war heart-to-heart.)





	Walk

**Author's Note:**

> Another repost, this one from Tumblr and LJ. Written during that fight against Kaguya, before the manga ended and everything went to shit.  
> I just had so many feeeeels! Good times.

Even after the enemy finally — _finally_ — fell, the sounds of explosions died down and the distinct light of menacing chakra disappeared, Sasuke maintained his position. Even with the severely low chakra levels (the lowest he ever reached in battle), he kept both of his eyes active, prepared, waiting. Anticipating.

Then, Naruto’s voice filled the silence: “It’s over.” Although there was a hint of doubt in his voice, the words echoed in Sasuke’s mind. _It’s over._

Still, it took them several minutes to abandon their positions. Slowly, carefully, they approached Kaguya’s dead body. By his side, Naruto breathed in and out loudly. He was tired, Sasuke could feel how much.

It’s over, he thought again, when the world stopped spinning around him. “We should incinerate her body,” he said, already expecting Naruto to disagree, start a monologue and argue with him.

Instead, what he got as an answer was a tired, regretful, “Alright.”

Sasuke ended the last of Kaguya Ootsutsuki’s existence with a simple, genin level katon. Her body burned slowly, just like any other person’s would, until there was nothing except ashes left. Sasuke watched the entire process.

Naruto didn’t.

“Finally,” he said instead, and left Sasuke’s side to go somewhere else, not far from there. Sasuke kept track of his chakra.

He made sure Kaguya stayed unmoving and the flames alive at all times. The dark smoke of dead flesh dissipated in the air, contrasting horribly with the first lights of a blue, quite beautiful day.

“Happy birthday,” someone said somewhere behind him. Sasuke recognized the Fourth Hokage’s voice. “I’m sorry I don’t have more time.”

“Dad…” Naruto’s voice cracked. More than just hear, Sasuke could feel the pain Naruto was feeling. In fact, he could feel practically everything Naruto was feeling. It was overwhelming, to say the least — Naruto felt too much, and too strongly. However, his emotions were nowhere near as tempestuous as Sasuke’s own, and it unsettled him.

He tried to shut it all down, but it was impossible without completely losing track of Naruto’s chakra.

“Son, I am so proud of you.” A sob, and an emotion Sasuke knew all too well. “I wish I was there for you—”

All he could do was stop listening.

The four Hokages left, one by one, with smiles on their faces and words of wisdom. Kakashi and Sakura, barely alive on their feet, watched in awe as it happened. Naruto seemed to take every piece of advice to heart.

The three of them cried.

Sasuke thought about Itachi.

“Hey!” He heard Naruto calling when he started walking away. “Where are you going?”

Sasuke didn't answer.

“You bastard! Where are you going now?” He felt exasperated, unbelieving, and Sasuke thought, _Really_?

He was several feet away from them when he heard Sakura’s voice, low and gentle: “Go.” He felt Naruto’s chakra split in two. The clone stayed with Sakura and Kakashi while Naruto ran after him.

“You aren't going back to Konoha, are you?”

For a moment, Sasuke thought they would fight, but Naruto’s calm energy told him otherwise. He tried, unsuccessfully, to hide the relief he felt — it would be impossible, in the state he was in, to fight Naruto and make it alive — but Naruto just smiled at him and shrugged it off.

He let Naruto follow him for as long as he pleased, and was surprised to notice that he didn't have to tell him to shut up, not even a single time.

They walked in complete silence for a long, long time, as fast as their wounds allowed (which meant very slowly). Only when the sun was high in the sky and the landscape had changed from the war damaged soil to a few dead trees, Naruto spoke softly, “Itachi told me a bit of it, y’know.”

Sasuke didn't say anything, even though he wondered when Naruto met his brother.

“He was a really cool guy, wasn't he?”

Sasuke snorted, which made Naruto laugh.

“Yeah, he was.” Silence. Steps. More dead trees. Then: “I was hoping you would tell me the rest. Everything. From your point of view. And I could tell you my stories as well.”

Though he didn't say anything, Sasuke saw, from the corner of his vision, Naruto scratching the back of his head.

He looked down at his feet. The soil he was walking on was mostly dead, a ground damaged by war. Then, he looked at the sky. The bright, living, untouched blue. Undamageable, even by the menacing forces of shinobi who didn't know any better.

“You’re turning seventeen today, aren't you,” Sasuke asked, though it sounded more like a statement. He felt Naruto’s chakra spark with energy, and he didn't have to look to see he was smiling.

“I am,” Naruto said, and it was only the start. “So that means it’s been about five years. Damn, Sasuke, I have so much to tell you. Where should I start? Well, after you left, I was in the hospital for a while. Then the old pervert, Jiraiya-sensei, did you meet him? He appeared in my window with this huge frog and…”

They walked for three days and three nights, stopping for long periods to rest and eat. And all the while, Naruto told him in details everything that had happened to him in the past five years.

_“…Learning Sage Mode was hard at first, but once I got the hang of it, it was one of the coolest things I ever did!”_

And Sasuke actually listened to every single word.

_“…My mom, Sasuke, I wish you’d met her. She’s the most awesome woman in the world…”_

And even indulged Naruto every once in a while.

_“…Did you know I have a bloodline, too?”_

_“I did, actually.”_

_“Seriously? And you never told me, you bastard!…”_

And didn't interrupt him, not even when the topic was too uncomfortable.

_“…Attack B? What the fuck were you even thinking? Did you know what I went through because of that?…”_

_“…You acted like a crazy psycho!…”_

_“…You put a hole in my chest. That really hurt, you know…”_

It was nearing dawn of the fourth day when they reached the familiar forest surrounding Konoha. The Hokages’ faces could be seen, although very distantly. Sasuke stopped walking. Naruto stopped with him, and Sasuke waited for a ‘What, you bastard, what’s wrong now’ that never came.

Instead, Naruto turned around and started walking again, to the same direction they’d just come. “Your turn,” he said. “I've had mine, so now it’s your turn to tell me everything. We’ll figure out what to do later. Together.”

Then, without waiting for Sasuke, Naruto started walking in the same direction they’d just come.

Sasuke followed him.


End file.
